The nomination of Ven. Thich Quang Do, who has relentlessly fought for Vietnam's human rights, has gained momentous support of international scholars and dignitaries. Among the scores of supporters are twenty-nine members of the US House of Representatives and 22 members of Parliament in Australia.
Enclosed are letter of nomination by Jack Smelling, M.P. of Australia and the biography of Venerable Thich Quang Do
Jack Smelling, M.P.
Member for Playford
Shop 4-15 Ro-opena Street
INGLE FARM 5098 AUSTRALIA
Tel. +61 8 8263 3777
Fax +61 8 8396 3435
Email : playford@parliamentsa.sa.gov.au
14 December 1999
The Honorable Nobel Peace Prize Selection Committee Norwegian Nobel Institute
Drammensveien 19
N-0255 OSLO, NORWAY
To the Honorable Chair:
Re: The Most Venerable Thich Quang Do
The Most Venerable Thich Quang Do exemplifies the virtues of peace, the struggle for social justice and the bravery of those willing to sacrifice their own personal freedom in the struggle to provide their fellow men with basic human rights.
Secretary-General of the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam, The Most Venerable Thich Quang Do has been a staunch advocate of religious freedom and for the past twenty years has been persecuted for his fearless stand. He has been exiled, jailed and placed under house arrest, yet he continues to speak out with courage, compassion and tolerance against injustice.
It is our belief that The Most Venerable Thich Quang Do is wholly deserving of international recognition of his lifelong dedication to religious freedom and would be a worthy recipient of the highest accolade the international community can bestow on their most outstanding proponents of peace.
Accordingly, we the undersigned, respectfully submit the name of the Most Venerable Thich Quang Do as a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Yours sincerely,
Hon. Mike Rann MP
Trish White MP
Annette Hurley MP
Michael Atkinson MP
Jack Snelling MP
Hon. Carmel Zollo MLC
Murray Delaine MP
Hon. Paul Holloway MLC
The Most Venerable Thich Quang Do
Secretary General / Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam
Penalty: House arrest, past imprisonment
Location: Thanh Minh Zen Center, 90 Tran Huy Lieu Street
District Phu Nhuan, Saigon, Vietnam
- Born Dang Phuc Tue on November 27, 1928, in Thai Binh province.
- In 1975, after Vietnam fell under communism, Ven. Thich Quang Do, as a high ranking leader in the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), protested against the Revolutionary government's infringements on religious freedoms and confiscation of UBCV properties.
- Considered "an obstruction" to the work of the government in religious matters, he and five other leaders of the UBCV were arrested in April 1977. They were tortured and, in October of that year, asked to admit that they worked for the CIA. Ven. Thich Quang Do was brought to trial on December 8, 1978. The government only charged him with "disturbing the peace and spreading misinformation" and later released him.
- To undermine the UBCV's influence in the population, the government created its own Buddhist Church of Vietnam in 1981. Ven. Thich Quang Do and various other Buddhist leaders were detained for 24 hours so that the incorporation of the UBCV into the structure of the state-run church could proceed.
- The government then announced the unification of the Buddhist Church had been "complete" and the UBCV was declared illegal. That was how the government justified its arrest on Feb. 25, 1982 of Ven. Thich Quang Do and Thich Huyen Quang, the two most prominent figures of the "recalcitrant opposition UBCV." They were subsequently exiled to separate locations. Ven. Thich Quang Do was sent to his birth place of Vu Doai in Thai Binh province. His mother, then in her 90s, was also exiled with him and died of cold three years later in the winter of 1985.
- In March 1992, after more than ten years of internal exile, Ven. Thich Quang Do took it upon himself to return to Saigon. In August 1994, he wrote a 44-page document addressed to Party General-Secretary Do Muoi detailing all the persecution against the UBCV since the communists came to power in Vietnam. For writing this document, he was arrested on January 4, 1995.
- On August 15, 1995, Ven. Thich Quang Do and five other monks and laity were tried by the People's Court of HCM City and convicted of "sabotaging government policies and damaging the interests of the state." The chief evidence was the defendants' attempt to organize an emergency food convoy to flood victims in the Mekong delta and the distribution of letters written by the patriarch of the UBCV, who is under house arrest. Ven. Thich Quang Do received a prison term of five years.
- He was released from prison on August 30, 1998. Periodically detained and interrogated, he has decried human rights abuses in interviews with the foreign media and letters to world leaders (EU ambassadors, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright). In September 1999, he co-signed a letter with leaders of the Catholic, Hoa Hao, and Cao Dai faiths requesting the government to respect religious freedom. - Ven. Thich Quang Do is currently under virtual house arrest at the Thanh Minh Zen Center in HCM City, which is surrounded by security officials who interrogate everyone to and from the Center.